As I previously mentioned, my Korean course in January was a success. I feel that my final project was especially successful. We had to come up with a five-minute "speech" to deliver to the class, and all in Korean of course. Some students used powerpoint slides. I did. The speech and slides are below, in Korean (with an English translation I have done just now; it was not part of the assignment). Be not deceived by its simplicity! This speech took me many, many painstaking hours -- About eight hours in a coffee shop, then several more revisions, and helpful suggestions from many along the way. Others in the class told me that they enjoyed my presentation a lot. Here it is:

작년 구월 중산부터 십월 삼십일까지 등산 했어요. "백두대간"은 남한남쪽에 있는, 지리산부터 강원도설악산까지 이어진 길이에요. 저는 지리산에서 월악산까지 걸어 갔어요. 그런데, 오늘 저는 백두대간여행 이야기 중에 하나를 이야기 할 거예요.__________________________________________ Last year, from mid-September to October 31st, I completed hiking trip. It was on the “Baekdu-Daegan Trail” in South Korea, which extends from the Jiri Mountains in the south to Gangwon Province's Seorak Mountain in the north. I walked from the Jiri Mountains to the Worak Mountains [halfway across trail]. Anyway, I will tell you today about one part of this trip.

오, 나는 이 사진들 찍었어요. [학생들: 우와!]____________________________________________ One of the mountains along this trail is called “Baek-Un-San”. In English, it means “White Cloud Mountain”. This mountain was beautiful! It is in Gyeongsang Province, Hamyang County.

How did I get to the top of Baekunsan? From Jungi Village, I walked to Jung-Jae Pass. The mountain trail became difficult, which tired me out a lot.

중기마을은 해발 오백미터쯤에 있지만, 백운산정상은 천삼백미터쯤! 그러니까, 힘들어요. 네 시간 동안 등산 했어요. 그래서, 땀이 많이 났어요. 마침내, 정상에 도착해서 행복했어요!____________________________________________Jungi Village's altitude is about 500 meters above sea level, but the summit of Baekunsan Mountain is about 1,300 meters above sea level! As a result, it an arduous hike. It took four hours of hiking. There was a lot of sweat. Finally, when I arrived at the top I became very happy!

정상에서 모든 것을 볼 수 있었어요. 아름다웠어요. 백운산 보고, 저는 기분이 너무 좋았어요. 백운산정상은 다른 세계 같았어요.____________________________________________From the summit, it was possible to see all things below. It was so beautiful. It really made me feel great. Being on Baekunsan's summit seemed like a different world.

천 개의 구름을 볼 수 있었어요.백운산 정상에......____________________________________________It was possible to see thousands of clouds. [I pointed out the clouds].Also on the summit was......

........비석이 있었어요.비석 앞에서, 야영해도 됐어요.____________________________________________........was the Baekunsan Stele. [I point to the stone].In the area around this stone marker, camping is allowed.

거기에서, 야영했어요. 다음날 아침 여섯시에 일어났어요. 아침에, 정말 너무 추워서, 기분이 안 좋았어요.

하지만! 아침에 천 개 구름을 볼 수 있어서, .... ____________________________________________I camped there. The next morning I woke up at 6 AM. That morning it was truly cold, which made me not feel too good.

작년 구월 하고 십월에 산을 많이 봤지만, "백운산"은 특별했어요. ____________________________________________...which made me feel good anyway. I was “in the sky”. A beautiful sunrise was soon visible. I ate breakfast but it was still very cold up there.

I was alone. At about 8 AM, a middle-aged man arrived. We chatted for about ten minutes. We used Korean and English. Soon the man left [to continue hiking]. Twenty minutes later, I also departed. I began my hike again, towards Deogyusan National Park.

Last year in September and October I saw a lot of mountains, but “Baekunsan” was particularly special.

백운산 또 보고 싶어요!

여러분, 등산이나 자연을 좋아하면, 백운산에 가세요~!!

[질문 있었어요. "Tent-cover 어디엤어요?"]__________________________________________I want to see that mountain again!

If you like mountain hiking or nature, I recommend all of you go to Baekunsan!

[Q and A] S.B.: "You said it was so cold! Where's your tent cover?" Me (flipping back to the proper slide): "It is on the stone, there. See?" (pointing) S.B.: "Aha". Others: "Ahh."

__________________________________________백운산 비디오 보고 싶어요? [안됐어요]. Do you want to see my Baekunsan video? [Not able; We had run out of time and were nearly late for the "all-level completion pizza party" in the other building, so were not able].[End of Speech]

That "video" link, on the last slide, led to a video of my descent from Baekunsan ("White Cloud Mountain"). Here it is:

This is one of a series of videos from my "trek" that I posted to Youtube. I've postedother videos from that journey, here: